Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Credit Card Review
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The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card is great for anyone that has bad credit and needs a secured credit card with no credit check and a reasonable APR.
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Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card
3.8
Annual Fee
$48.00
APR
9.99%
Credit Needed
Bad/No Credit
EFFECTIVENESS
Adds account to your credit report
PRICE
$200 minimum security deposit
EASE OF USE
Apply in less than 5 minutes
SUPPORT
Responds pretty quickly
Credit Knocks Overall Star Rating:
SUMMARY:
The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card is a great option if you are either starting your credit journey or re-establishing your credit.
You don't have to worry about a hard credit pull when you apply for this card; however, the card does have an annual fee.
I created this review so that you can understand how their card works, its benefits and short comings.
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What's The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card?
The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card is offered through Applied Bank and was created solely to help people establish or rebuild credit.
The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit card also has one of the lowest interest rates when it comes to secured cards.
The card also helps you build credit history by reporting to all three major credit reporting agencies.
Like the majority of secured cards, it does require an initial security deposit once you get approved which we discuss below.
Who Is Applied Bank?
Applied Bank is FDIC insured and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. They are a Delaware state chartered bank that offers commercial and consumer banking services.
Applied Bank has been around since 1996 and they also have a strong commitment to the community by participating in a variety of local campaigns and initiatives, such as:
- The Delaware Financial Literacy Program
- Junior Achievement
- United Way
- The Ministry of Caring
- Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware
- Opportunity Center Incorporated
What Makes Them Different?
The biggest selling point of the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card is that your approval is guaranteed because there is no credit check.
The card also has a pretty low APR compared to the other secured card products and to top it all off, you get to choose your credit limit based on your initial security deposit.
You even have the option to increase your credit limit to $5,000 which we discuss later in this review.
Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card Basics
Below are the basic features of the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® credit card:
*With secured cards you will need to provide a refundable security deposit, which determines what your initial credit limit will be. The credit card company holds that deposit in case you don't pay your bill.
In my personal opinion, paying a small fee to establish credit is 100% worth it; just be sure to make your payments on-time.
On Applied Bank's Secure Website
Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card Features
The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Credit Card is packed with several features that make it one of the best secured credit cards without a credit check.
The main features of this card include:
Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card help you to establish a solid payment history with no credit check required.
Paying Your Security Deposit
Your security deposit is what will determine your initial credit limit and you can use a credit, debit, or prepaid credit card to fund your deposit.
Applied Bank® accepts either MasterCard® or Visa® and the application is designed to make it quick and easy no matter if you are on mobile or desktop..
When you submit your application, you are giving Applied Bank® the authority to process the full security deposit, this will place an immediate hold on the funds selected as your credit line.
They don’t store your debit card information on file.
Requesting A Credit Limit Increase
You can request a credit limit increase at any time by contacting their Customer Service Department.
If you get approved, you’ll receive instructions on how to send the additional security deposit needed to fund the increase to your credit limit.
Increasing your own credit limit is one of the best things you can do because it decreases your credit utilization and increases your available credit.
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Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card Pros & Cons
PROS
CONS
No Credit Check
Improves Payment History
May Improve Credit Score
Low APR
$48.00 Annual Fee
$200 Min. Deposit Required
No Grace Period
Alternatives To The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card
A secured credit card through Applied Bank is a great option to get things started with your credit profile.
However, there are a few other options available for building or re-building your credit, and if you can, I would get them in addition to the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card.
Credit Builder Loan Through Self Lender
While these loans have a small monthly fee attached to them, they also pull your credit report for approval.
Just like with an Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card, Credit Builder Loans report to all 3 credit reporting agencies.
The major difference is that it is an installment loan and not a revolving loan, but once the loan is paid off, the funds will be sent back to you.
We wrote a detailed guide here and a review of Self. here.
Catalog / Merchandise Account Through Fingerhut
Another great alternative are Catalog/ Merchandise Accounts.
While these types of accounts require a credit pull, it is very easy to get an approval and to start building your credit profile.
These accounts will report to all 3 credit reporting agencies; however, you can only use the credit at the Catalog or Merchandise company that gives you the credit.
One of the best catalog accounts comes from Fingerhut, we wrote a detailed review here.
Steps To Take After You're Approved
The real work starts once you have been approved for your Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card.
Monitor Your Credit
One of the most overlooked area of building credit, is monitoring your credit.
This is truly your first line of defense when trying to build or rebuild your credit.
You should try to find a service that allows you to monitor all 3 of your reports.
Helpful Tip
If your application goes to "Pending" status it doesn't mean Declined. Usually, more information may be needed.
Make On Time Payments
Making on time payments sounds like a super simple thing to do; however, we all live in the real world where things almost never go as planned.
Be sure, no matter what, to make your payments on time because it is super important and is one of the largest factors in your credit score.
No matter what, avoid late payments.
Keep Credit Utilization Low
Another factor to consider is credit utilization, you really want to keep this under 3% of total credit if you can but try to never get it over 15%.
For example, if your Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card has a $600 limit and you spend $120.
Spending $120 on a $600 card limit means you are utilizing is around 20% of your credit on that card and it is above the recommend credit utilization percentage, so be mindful of how much you spend.
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How To Close My Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card?
According to Applied Bank® you may close your Account at any time.
In order to close your Account, you must:
- Give them written notice of your intent to close your Account at the address for inquiries shown on your Statement
- Pay your outstanding balance in full.
Once you do that your notice to close your Account will become effective as soon as they can reasonably act on it.
Is There A Fee For Closing My Account?
Outside of the fees associated with your remaining balance, there is no fee for closing your account.
You will also receive your security deposit back that you used to open your account.
I would recommend keeping the card active as long as you can, there really isn't a reason to cancel the card any time soon.
Taking Action On Your Credit
Hopefully, you found this Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card Review helpful because starting your credit journey can be complicated and confusing.
There is no better time than now to get things started and the sooner you get your card setup, the faster it will hit your credit reports and start helping you.
Having the card in your wallet is going to feel great, but growing your credit is going to feel even better.
Start building your credit today with a Secured Visa® from Applied Bank® .
On Applied Bank's Secure Website
Editorial Note: The editorial content on this page is not provided or commissioned by any financial institution. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, statements or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities prior to publication.